HOW TO COMMUNICATE & MANAGE DIFFICULT TOPICS Ana Tretinjak Office of the Ombudswoman of Croatia Dublin, 13.10.2016.

THE BACKGROUND 1 000 – 10 000 refugees per day GOALS: Refugee crisis at it’s peak Hungary closed the borders with Serbia on September 16th Croatia became a part of the Balkan route Encouraging and helpful circumstances: positive media messages (sympathetic, factual), humanitarian approach of Croatian government Atmosphere was positive – but only a matter of time when will it turn around to become negative 1 000 – 10 000 refugees per day 555 000 in three months Mostly positive public discourse Government - humanitarian approach GOALS: Awareness raising Preventing stereotype-based behaviors

STRATEGY Live – authenticity MESSAGES: It could happen to anyone They are not a threat STYLE: Informative, not persuasive Straightforward, but not aggressive Simple language Not pathetic It’s not about us DIRECT TARGETS: Influencers Media SECONDARY TARGETS: Local communities Volunteers General public Not planned, spontaneous – gut-led Ombudswoman put refugee crisis, an extraordinary situation, as one of the Office priorities (important for logistics!) Most tweets live, as it happens – for authenticity of our communication Show refugees in the most basic human way Spread positive messages Style: Informative – not telling them what to think and how to feel, only telling it how it is Straightforward, not aggressive Simple language Not pathetic It’s not about us (no info on where are we heading, what we are doing etc.) Targets – direct targets are most present on Twitter in Croatia, excellent multipliers outside of the network

CONTENT Teams’ info and photos 26 visits, 17 locations Day and night Multiple teams from day 1 26 unannounced visits to 17 locations: train stations, camps, border crossings Talking to refugees, volunteers, observing Authorities info – looking for translators, a plea to stop spreading false information on the rise of crime among refugees Twitter only – our only social network channel (lack of staff) Teams’ info and photos 26 visits, 17 locations Day and night + authorities info, volunteers, police officers

RESULTS REFUGEES COLECTING GARBAGE AT THE STATION WHILE WAITING FOR THE TRAIN. THESE GUYS ARE FROM IRAQ. Good reach and engagement At the moment we had less than one thousand followers There are 50 000 Twitter users in Croatia

RESULTS Media stories Publishing what we tweeted + retweets by influencers

RISKS Possible backlash: “You only worry about refugees” “Why don’t you visit me” Thematic profile? Setting expectations Self promotion accusations Possible attitude of citizens: why only worry about them, what about Croatian citizens problems? The reason we enhanced the communication of other topics (poverty, elderly etc.) during the refugee crisis Losing interest and follows of those losing interest in refugees Expectations – what if we can not keep the tempo in the next emergency situation (floods, etc.) How long will it last – can we handle it? Will the same level of activity be expected for other problems from our mandates? Self promotion – avoided by creating issues, facts and refugees content, not us None of those fears came true

IMPORTANT ‘BEHIND THE SCENES’ DETAILS Refugee crisis Office priority State official on field Technical operation Decision in the Office level, not Comm team Ombudswoman approachable, adjustable, always available for checking tweets if necessary She wore only very basic make up, plain, comfortable clothes An OK camera will do+a phone with great battery Don’t forget the refugees rights – do they mind if you take a photo? Ask

QUESTIONS What more could have been done? Tweets in English? We created a video to summarise our activities, only 2 photos in it were not taken by us – watch it here: https://vimeo.com/148253449 Tweets in English? Announcements of visits? More direct communication? More questions to engage users?

Thank you! www.ombudsman.hr